Classification schemes

I used the set text (Hider and Harvey, 2008) to answer the following questions for Exercise 21 in topic 6 (the first exercise - finally I am attacking it after putting it off a little bit... Nearly there now, must keep the motivation up!).

1. Explain what a facet is, in bibliographic classification. It is a single concept of a subject - notation is assigned to each facet. They can be put together in ways to represent the thing they are classifying (Hider & Harvey p. 111).

2. Explain the term literary warrant. Literary warrant - controlled vocabularies only use subjects which have been used before - subjects that are in resources that currently exist (p. 101; p. 109). Bibliographic classifcation schemes are usually based on this (p. 109).

3. Identify the main difference between a general classification scheme and a special one. General classification schemes "cover all of documented knowledge" (p. 109); they try to cover everything, general information. Special classfication schemes "cover a more limited field of documented knowledge" (p. 109); they are focused on a particular area of interest, music for example.

4. Explain the following aspects of a classification scheme: schedules - these list the aspects of the classification scheme in the order in which they are arranged (p. 110). notation - the symbols which are used to represent the arrangement of the scheme (p. 110). hospitality - if new subjects/concepts are invented or gain literary warrant they can be inserted into the notation.

5. Discuss (briefly) the difference between an enumerative classification scheme and a faceted scheme and give one example that best illustrates each type of scheme. Enumerative list the subjects, grouping them together subjects which are related, or aspects within those subjects; e.g. shopping list with items grouped according to what types of food they are, or what part of the supermarket you would find them (p. 110). Faceted breaks the subjects down into single concepts (facets), then puts them together in ways to best represent the item; e.g. classifying wine according to different elements e.g. where it is from, year, grape type etc. (see p. 108) then putting these facets into a particular order using notation to represent them (p. 111).

6. Explain what citation order is. The order in which facets are added together in a faceted classification scheme (p. 111).

7. Harvey identifies two distinct purposes of classification schemes in libraries. What are they?
- providing a location for an information resource
- providing access by subject to information resources (p. 112)

8. What are the main criticisms of Dewey Decimal Classification, according to Hider?
- U.S./Western/Anglo-Saxon social and cultural bias
- Some schedules crowded - Decimal base of 10 limits hospitality
- Lack of specificity in some fields
- Notations can be long (p. 115)

I am not sure why I tool so long to motivate myself to complete this exercise! I managed to get it done quite quickly once I got going. I think what put me off, was the difficulty I was having to put the ideas into my own words. In the end I have often almost quoted directly from the book - but because I have put the page numbers in that is ok - and I do understand the concepts, which is the main aim of the exercise I do believe! So now it is time to move on to the next one as the assignment due date is looming...

Reference: Hider, P. and Harvey, R. (2008). Organising knowledge in a global society: principles and practices in libraries and information centres. Revised Ed. Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies.

Word of the day

Word of the day:

Festschrift

A book/volume written to honour someone for the academic achievement, usually published at a milestone in their career or life.

Merriam-Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/festschrift

Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/festschrift

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festschrift

Curiosity was provoked by page 73 of my textbook: Hider (2008).

Reference: Hider, P (with Harvey, R) 2008, ‘What makes information retrieval systems effective?’, in Organising knowledge in a global society, rev. edn. Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, pp. 21-23.

ISBD

ETL505 Topic 4 study task 1

Prepare a description for the textbook (Hider, 2008), using the 8 areas of ISBD.

The 8 areas are:
1. Title and statement of responsibility area
2. Edition area
3. Material (or type of publication) specific details area
4. Publication, distribution, etc. area
5. Physical description area
6. Series area
7. Note area
8. Standard number and terms of availability area.

They are separated by a full stop and a dash (. - )

Here we go...

Organising knowledge in a global society: principles and practices in libraries and information centres / Philip Hider with Ross Harvey. - Revised Edition. - Wagga Wagga : Centre for Information Studies, 2008. -

Ok, I'm not sure what else to add and where, so I'm going to scroll down in my readings and see what it should look like...

And here it is:

Organising knowledge in Australia : principles and practice in libraries and information centres / Ross Harvey. - Wagga Wagga, NSW : Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University-Riverina, 1999. - xiv, 317 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. - Topics in Australasian library and information studies ; 15. - Bibliography. - ISBN 0 949060 86 0.

I have a feeling this is the previous edition. Overall, I didn't do too badly really! I put the year in the right place (indicated by the previous examples we'd been given), spaced the punctuation (mostly) correctly and used the right punctuation. I'm not sure where the "Charles Sturt University-Riverina" part has come from. I didn't put the page numbers in - so they go in the "physical description section", as does whether it is (ill.)ustrated, and how big it is (25 cm.). I am not sure where the 2nd and 3rd last sections have come from/what they mean. ISBN I understand and should have thought about.

I am also not sure about the /s and ;s and when to use them - why have they been chosen for particular roles, what do they mean in this layout. But the module does say not to worry about not getting it right just yet, so I will continue on and see what else I can learn tonight.

Hider's main points

I believe Hider's main points to be:
-that information should be easy to use for everyone involved; rules/guidelines/agreements should be followed to make this so.
- we now get information from all over the world, and it is constantly changing, so it is important that we have high standards and work together to organise it.
- we need to ensure that our systems are user friendly, responsive and readily available and that data is easy to understand, so that users are not restricted from accessing information.


Reference: Hider, P (with Harvey, R) 2008, ‘What makes information retrieval systems effective?’, in Organising knowledge in a global society, rev. edn. Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, pp. 21-23.